Guitar Lessons & ... » Personal http://www.brendanburns.com/blog This is the Personal & Professional Blog for Brendan Burns Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:55:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Unclutterered http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2009/unclutterered/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2009/unclutterered/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:54:20 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/?p=299 unclutterer

The kind people of Unclutterer.com are showcasing my home studio as their Workplace of Week this week.  Check out their site for all of you Uncluttering needs.

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2009/unclutterered/feed/ 0 December Concerts http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/december-concerts/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/december-concerts/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:05:46 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/december-concerts/ Here are some concerts that I plan on attending. You should too:

Saturday, December 1 @ 8:00 pm:
Jazz Composers’ Alliance Orchestra
AT EMMANUEL CHURCH IN BOSTON

Friday, December 7th @ 11:00 PM:
Jupiter One
Great Scotts (The Pill)

Friday December 7 @ 7:30 PM:
Fluttr Effect The Trio
Serenata Chamber Musicians Winter Solstice Concert
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
155 Powder House Blvd Somerville, MA

Sunday, December 9 @ 3:00 pm:
Gamelan Galak Tika (I used to play with them)
MIT / Broad Institute Auditorium, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/december-concerts/feed/ 0 Ponline Oetry http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/ponline-oetry/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/ponline-oetry/#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:06:55 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/ponline-oetry/ Heather Hughes, my good friend, poet, & housemate, has two poems up on Prick of the Spindle this month.  Check them out:

Contact

love, occasional

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/ponline-oetry/feed/ 1 Jupiter One – Paradise Lounge 10/24 http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one-paradise-lounge-1024/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one-paradise-lounge-1024/#comments Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:04:44 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one-paradise-lounge-1024/ Come out and see my favoritist band ever: Jupiter One, this Wednesday at the Paradise Lounge!!!

Jupiter One

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one-paradise-lounge-1024/feed/ 0 Catch-up http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/catch-up/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/catch-up/#comments Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:24:26 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/catch-up/ I’ve been a little preoccupied with moving the past couple of weeks. Here are some things that have happened since we’ve last blogged:

Made By PaddyI had a wallet made for me… Paddy Hartley, a visual artist in the UK, makes handmade, limited-edition wallets that use illustrations from atomic civil defense and public information films, experimental aircraft of the 1940s/70s along with a few out of series designs. He also produces custom-made designs upon request.

I initially wanted to buy one from his current series, but the idea of a custom wallet design seemed to good to pass up. I had been looking for a new wallet for over a year. It was time to do it right.

The two images for my wallet came from a promo guitar picture and an illustration I made while doodling on the Wacom pad. Paddy had the great idea of putting them together and positioning them on the wallet. You can see some draft designs on my flickr page. I’m very happy with results and the professional service provided. I’m sure he’ll be hearing from me again.

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In other design/promotional news: I had some new Moo cards printed up. One for lesson reminders and the other for general guitar promo.

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I don’t have much to say about this, because I’ve never used it, but I want pass along the information about Humidipacks. I read about it on Scott Allyn’s blog. It’s a new way of keeping the relative humitdy in your guitar case at an optimal 45%.

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/catch-up/feed/ 0 Jupiter One http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one/#comments Sat, 05 May 2007 04:30:07 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one/ I’ve been on a nostalgia kick lately. Spring cleaning has turned into a walk down memory lane.

Jupiter One

One of my old classmates from Berklee, K Ishibashi, released an album with his band, Jupiter One, a few years ago. Two of the songs are available for download through iTunes. I cannot get these songs out of my head, or off my iPod playlist. Please, do yourself a favor and support everything that is K & Jupiter One related.

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/jupiter-one/feed/ 0 April is for Fools http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/april-is-for-fools/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/april-is-for-fools/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:09:14 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/april-is-for-fools/ alpha_launchValerie & I had some fun this week. We put together a semi-elaborate April Fools prank and launched her new website. I’m really excited about her new design and proud that I could help make it happen. After learning so much about WordPress for her site, I think I’m going to do my own redesign with WordPress as well. Stay tuned….

In other design news, I just wanted to share how creatively satisfied I am writing XHTML & CSS. For a while, I thought learning all this web design stuff was really a distraction and procrastination from my music (even though sometimes it is), but recently I’ve found that writing code has been helping my musical mind. It’s hard for me to demonstrate this, but designing in code is very similar to writing a composition. It’s similar to seeing compositional forms in TV shows or novels. They are all related. I wish I had more to say about this, but I’m still trying to understand it.

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/april-is-for-fools/feed/ 0 I Heart Ralph Towner http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/i-heart-ralph-towner/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/i-heart-ralph-towner/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:36:48 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/i-heart-ralph-towner/ Ralph TownerI’ve been re-reading my old transcription book from Ralph Towner and enjoying the fact that I’m getting better every 5 years as a guitarist. I remember this book used to be impossible for me. Now it just merely kicks my ass.

I ordered Ralph’s second transcription book, and received in the mail today. I’m currently in love with his composition “If.” What a great guy. Thanks Ralph, for brightening my day.

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/i-heart-ralph-towner/feed/ 0 Desert Island http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/desert-island/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/desert-island/#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 04:31:03 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/desert-island/ I’ve never liked the idea of the “Desert Island Discs” question. It always seemed too silly and hypothetical for me.

Well, something changed inside me this evening. I was listening to Bill Frisell’s “Have A Little Faith” album, and thought about how much I loved this album. For the first time, I realized the ultimate torture of living the rest of my life on a desert island without being able to hear such wonderful music.

Here are the top 10 albums I cannot live without:

Bill Frisell - Have A Little Faith Bill Frisell – Have A Little Faith

Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert Keith Jarrett – Koln Concert

Muthspiel & Muthspiel - Early Music Wolgang & Christian Muthspiel – Early Music
 

Dave Brubeck - Time Out Dave Brubeck – Time Out

Bobby McFerrin - The Best of… Bobby McFerrin – The Best of Bobby McFerrin

Harry Nillson - Nillson Sings Newman Harry Nillson – Nillson Sings Newman

Hank Roberts - Little Motor People Hank Roberts – Little Motor People

Bela Fleck - Tales From The Acoustic Planet Bela Fleck – Tales From The Acoustic Planet

Phillip Johnston - Flood At The Ant Farm Phillip Johnston’s Big Trouble – Flood At The Ant Farm

Ralph Towner - Ana Ralph Towner – Ana

Honorable Mentions:

Medeski, Martin & Wood – Notes From The Underground
Either/Orchestera – The Calculus of Pleasure
Prince – The Hits/B-Sides (Disc 1)
Queen – A Night At The Opera
Dave Matthews Band – Remember Two Things
Donna The Buffalo – The Purple Album
Blues Traveler – Save His Soul
Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue

]]> http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/desert-island/feed/ 1 Pan9 Fire http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/pan9-fire/ http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/pan9-fire/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:59:30 +0000 brendanburns http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2007/pan9-fire/ On December 29th, some friends and band members of Fluttr Effect suffered a fire at their home/workspace/artists’ loft.

Troy & Vessela’s place escaped fire damage, but was badly flooded from hours of firefighters extinguishing the fire. Most of their instruments survived but other equipment, books, clothes, bed and rugs were destroyed.

If you would like to make a donation to help the cause, please use the button below:

News articles and pictures:
Boston Globe
Allston-Brighton TAB
Flickr

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